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Matthew Weiner on ‘Mad Men’ and Don Draper’s Failed Pitch

Kevin Rahm as Ted, Vincent Kartheiser as Pete, Jon Hamm as Don, Christina Hendricks as Joan and John Slattery as Roger in “Mad Men.”Credit Michael Yarish/AMC

“This is the beginning of something, not the end,” Don Draper told his unpersuaded colleagues on Sunday’s episode of “Mad Men.” But viewers of this AMC period drama know that nothing could be further from the truth: On May 17, it all comes to a close for “Mad Men,” when the story of Draper, his family, his workplace and his tormented love life reaches its conclusion.

Matthew Weiner, the famously spoiler-phobic creator and show runner of “Mad Men,” isn’t sharing how he plans to bring down the curtain on his characters. But in an interview with The New York Times, he shared his thoughts on television’s tradition of series finales, and how the endings of shows like “The Sopranos” (where Mr. Weiner worked as a producer) as well as “M*A*S*H,” “Six Feet Under” and “Breaking Bad” influenced his own thinking. He also discussed how TV has changed in the time that “Mad Men” has been on the air; why he won’t be giving interviews after his finale is shown (at least not right away); and what he plans to do for his next act (he could use some suggestions).

That interview will be posted as an audio recording closer to the finale, and portions of it will be published in a future print edition.

In this excerpt, Mr. Weiner talks about “Time & Life,” the most recent episode of “Mad Men,” and whether it depicts the beginning of the end for his series.

Q.

Things did not work out so well for Don Draper and company this week. Are we seeing the end game of the series start to play out?

A.

Maybe this is part of the post-binge environment — but it’s an episode of the show. And there’s a story going on in each episode. And what we’re seeing are the consequences of being bought by McCann. They allowed themselves to not be destroyed in the moon landing [episode]. Roger put this thing together to sell them to McCann and they knew it wasn’t a good idea and it was kind of inevitable, and here it is.

In terms of how it figures into the story of the show, you gotta watch. I’m having a stranger experience than normal because I know that people have things they wanna see. There is a certain kind of almost petulance, “When’s it gonna happen, what’s gonna happen?” I am not doing the same show every week. I’m not just gonna take these last seven episodes and do the greatest hits. We’re not going to dissolve to a frame from the pilot and play “Through the Years.” I am telling a story about these characters and this is the next step in the story.

They knew the job was dangerous when they took it and this is what happened. That’s kind of what’s fun about it for me. I feel like we’ve told, over the seasons of the show, the history of advertising at that time. People were very upset when the show came on the air that they were such a third-tier ad agency that had cigarette advertising as their big client, and that they weren’t doing the Volkswagen ad. And I was like, I’m not telling that story. McCann did have a satellite agency, I believe in the Time-Life Building, for conflicts.

Q.

So maybe an 88-year-old Don Draper is still working for that company today.

A.

I liked the idea that the audience thinks they’re invincible. They think they’re invincible, so they’re going to swing for the fences. They’ve done it before. But it’s just not an issue. It’s McCann. I don’t even know how to explain to people what that is. But it’s kind of like Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has come in and said you’re going to be by yourself and then [later] he comes in and decides to close your doors. That’s just the way it is. You’re going to be rich and you’re going to work for Facebook.

Q.

Knowing that you’re at your final episodes, was one scenario that you’ve saved up seeing Don give the pitch that fails, or the pitch that he doesn’t even get to finish making?

A.

He’s failed before. I write the clients and I write the pitch, so I’ve had that chance before. What I liked is that, yeah, they’re not going to win this one, though in a weird way, they have won.

For me, one of the premises of the show is, “What is it really like to work in an office.” And the most unbelievable part of the show is that all of these people would be working together for this long. And we’ve played with the tension — and this is my own philosophy and it also helps with drama and conflict — in that people are not best friends. Peggy and Joan didn’t move in together. Pete has gone to California and moved back. Peggy has gone to work for CGC. All of that’s great. Don is being wooed by Mary Wells. That’s real. But, as in your business, you can leave The New York Times. You can come back to The New York Times if you work somewhere else. It’s not like being traded to another baseball team. This is how you work your way up.

Q.

For the record, I am not leaving The New York Times. (Laughs)

A.

And also, for the record, you can’t leave The New York Times. (Laughs) They will never take you back!